Sparkling rosé covers a range of styles from dry to medium dry. Lighter, drier ones make ideal party drinking (Cava rosado is good wine pairing with tapas). Sweeter styles of sparkling rosé like rosé prosecco would be a good wine pairing at a tea party with macarons, cakes and fruit tarts.

Within the Anjou wine region are several Appellation d'origine contrôlée (AOC)s responsible for a broad spectrum of wines including still red, white and rosé produced with varying levels of sweetness. The region produce more variety of different wine styles, from different grape varieties than any other Loire Valley wine region. [7] The majority of wine production in the region revolves around sweet white wines produced under their own sub- appellation including the Coteaux du Layon, Bonnezeaux, Quarts de Chaume and Coteaux de l'Aubance AOCs. [1] Around 15% of yearly Angevin wine production goes to dry white wines made predominantly from Chenin blanc with the Savennières AOC being the most noted example and Anjou Blanc AOC being the most commonly found on the worldwide wine market. Among the rosés produced in the region are predominantly Grolleau Rosé d'Anjou AOC and the Cabernet Franc and/or Cabernet Sauvignon based Cabernet d'Anjou with the later being more widely recognized for quality than the former. [5] Grapes from the region also go into third style of rosé known as Rosés de Loire, which can include grapes from across the Middle Loire Valley though the bulk of the production is centered around Anjou. This style of rosé is completely dry and can be made from Pinot noir, Gamay, Grolleau, Cabernet Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon and Pineau d'Aunis. [9] Many of the sweet wines of the Anjou are botrytized, meaning that the noble rot of Botrytis cinerea has infected the grapes causing the grapes to shrivel and concentrate the sugars inside. Rosé was once considered a summer wine but increasingly more people are drinking it year round with almost every type of food and on any and every occasion. The nearest equivalent to this style of rosé are crisp dry white wines such as Pinot Grigio and they go with similar food. Food pairings for most Provencal rosé and similar dry rosés include light salads, light pasta and rice dishes, raw or lightly cooked shellfish like oysters, grilled fish and goats’ cheeses. See also The Best Food Pairings for Provence Rose

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The production of dry red wines has been steadily increasing since the late 20th century spurred on, in part, by the creation of the Anjou-Villages AOC in 1987 for premium red wine production. Made predominantly from Cabernet Franc, some of the most ideally situated vineyards located south of Angers in the Coteaux de l'Aunbance AOC was given their own distinct sub-appellation in 1998 known as the Anjou-Villages Brissac AOC. The Gamay grape of Beaujolais still has a presence here and its own appellation of Anjou Gamay AOC. Gamay, as well as a variety of other red wine grape varieties, can also be produced under the catch-all appellation Anjou Rouge AOC. [5] Major appellations [ edit ] Rosé d'Anjou and Cabernet d'Anjou Quarts-de-Chaume AOC Most of the land in this appellation near the village of Chaume once belonged to the abbey of Ronceray d'Angers who required from tenant vignerons tithes in the form of 1/4 (a quarter or "Quarts") of their yearly production. From this history, the name Quarts-de-Chaume was attached to the Chenin blanc wines of this region harvested and produced in a manner similar to those in Bonnezeaux. [3]

The category that used to be called blush. Again, if this is the style you like you’ll want to drink it with all the foods mentioned in 1) above. But those who prefer this style of rosé may also find it useful with spicy food and as a dessert wine (it’s spot on with unsweetened strawberries and not oversweet strawberry tarts) Anjou Gamay AOC This appellation maintains nearly the same boundary as the Anjou AOC but is dedicated to wines produced 100% from the Gamay grape. Similar to Beaujolais nouveau, these wines can be produced as Vins de primeur and released as early as the third Thursday of November following harvest. [3]

Rosé d'Anjou AOC Also known as Anjou Rosé AOC, these medium-sweet rosés saw a period of immense popularity in the mid to late 20th century where in the late 1980s they composed nearly 55% of all wine produced in the Anjou district. Since that high point, production has been steadily declining. Made predominantly from Grolleau with small percentages of Cabernet Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon, Gamay, Malbec and Pineau d'Aunis permitted, these wines can be sold nouveau with wine experts recommending that they be consumed early soon after release. [3] Anjou AOC - The boundaries of this AOC extend into nearby Saumur, allowing some of the wine produced in that region to be sold under the Anjou AOC label. The basic Anjou Rouge can be produced from Cabernet Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon and Pineau d'Aunis and tend to be medium to full bodied. Basic Anjou Blanc can range in style from dry to sweet and light bodied to full. [9] They must be composed of a minimum 80% Chenin blanc with Chardonnay and Sauvignon blanc permitted to fill out the remaining 20% of the blend. According to wine expert Tom Stevenson, both the reds and whites wines have the aging potential of only a few years after vintage. [3] The two major grape varieties of the Anjou are Chenin blanc, known locally as Pineau de la Loire, which is used for dry, sweet, still and sparkling wine and Cabernet Franc which is used mostly for rosé and still red wines. [12] The sweet wine production of Anjou is highly dependent on favorable climate conditions and experiences marked vintage variation from year to year. The character of the vintage and climate will ultimately determine what type of wine will be produced. Many of the vineyards in the Coteaux du Layon, Bonnezeaux, Quarts de Chaume and Coteaux de l'Aubance AOCs are located on sheltered slopes along tributaries of the Loire. In favorable vintages, the late summer and early fall months will bring climate conditions that encourage moisture and mist in the morning and enough sunshine in the afternoon to promote the development of favorable Botrytis cinerea rot instead of less desirable forms of grape rot. [9] In exceptional years where there is enough warmth and dry weather during the harvest months, the grapes will be left on the vine to raisin in a process known as passerille. This method desiccates the wine, removing moisture and concentrating sugars, without adding the nuance of flavor that Botrytis does. [4] The broad spectrum of wine styles produced in Anjou brings with it a wide variety of winemaking techniques. In areas such as the Coteaux du Layon, the wines are fermented in 400 L (106 gallons) "double- barriques" and submitted to partial malolactic fermentation. [5] The basic still wines of Anjou blanc are made similar to still white wine production elsewhere though, as wine expert Jancis Robinson notes, they do have an historical association with being over sulfited. [1] As red wine production continues to find a market, and plantings of Cabernet Sauvignon increase, more producers are experimented with the use of new oak barrels. In riper years Angevin producers can make more fuller bodied reds similar to those found in the Touraine wine reds but still relatively light when compared to the reds of warmer climates such as Bordeaux and the Rhone. [8] See also [ edit ]

Fruity rosés e.g. pinot noir rosés and off-dry Loire and traditional Portuguese rosés with a touch of sweetness such as Rosé d’Anjou and Mateus Rosé Crisp dry rosés - e.g. Most Provençal rosés fall into this category as does Italian Bardolino Chiaretto Wine made from the Chenin blanc grape can be dated to the 9th century in vineyards belonging to the Glanfeuil Abbey located just south of Angers in what is now Le Thoureil. [3] Angevin wines have been held in high esteem since the Middle Ages but were mostly limited to local French markets. Unusual for the time Anjou was known for its unique winemaking technique of blending vin de presse, the wine extracted from pressing the grapes, with the vin de goutte or free run juice that came from the weight of gravity pressing the grape. This vin de presse added extra tannins and color to the wine but could limit the wine's appeal for being consumed young. [6] Nearer a full-bodied red than a rosé - big, bold and bursting with fruit. Often quite high in alcohol but it tends not to show because they’re not tannic and served chilled which makes them ideal for a barbecue and for drinking with spicy food such as curries. Also good with ripe peaches. Very much the modern rosé for contemporary food.a b c H. Johnson & J. Robinson The World Atlas of Wine pg 118 Mitchell Beazley Publishing 2005 ISBN 1-84000-332-4 These rosés are also a good wine pairing for brie, camembert and other white-rinded cheeses so long as you don't let them get too ripe and runny. Fresh figs make a good accompaniment. Anjou-Villages AOC The boundaries of this red wine only AOC was first delimited in 1986 but did not go into effect until the 1991 harvest. Made entirely from Cabernet Franc and/or Cabernet Sauvignon, these wines have an aging potential of 2–6 years after harvest. [3] There are 46 communes in the appellation allowed to produce grapes for this AOC. [7] Indeed, Rosé d’Anjou was a style essentially born out of 20th century French café culture. To understand its genesis and purpose, we need to delve a little into the history of Anjou once again, shifting this time from the Chenin Blanc on which I concentrated in my guide to the Anjou appellation, to the broad mix of red varieties which has also long been planted here.